Anyone live in or know about Charlotte, NC

[Tondi G]

My DH got a job offer and we are talking about potentially moving that way. We are west coast people... both born and raised in Los Angeles. What's Charlotte like? What are good neighborhoods to research around Charlotte? Good Schools? 3 to 4 bedrooms with a yard is all we care about! I'd love to hear the good and the bad about Charlotte... anything you've got!

Thanks
~Tondi

[Tondi G]

bumping this up.... anyone?

[caleymama]

No first hand knowledge of Charlotte (though everyone I know in NC likes it) but I wanted to wish you guys well as you decide what to do. :)

[brittone2]

I've been in NC for 3 years now and love it here. I'm in the Triangle (Chapel Hill/Durham/Raleigh area), not Charlotte, and I actually have yet to visit Charlotte...so I'm not much help!

I love NC overall. PM me if you want NC generalities...I can't speak to Charlotte specifically.

I'm hoping when DH finishes his PhD we can stay in NC.

[lizajane]

i am near brittone, so no living in charlotte experience. but i can say that folks who go there love it. my cousin lives there and is very happy. lots of young folks and lots going on. a good pick.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I have friends who grew up there, friends who lived there, and friends who recently moved there. I've visited, but not a ton.

Having visited LA (Santa Monica) for a week, I'll just say it will likely be a bit of a change. When you're driving into/through Charlotte there are 2 things you notice - churches and banks. They are on every corner. There will be an Ikea soon. There's a really neat area of older homes called Dilworth that's really pretty. The newer housing is obviously on the outskirts as far as I know, and one of my friends teaches in a school south of the ginormous Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. Britax' US base is there, and NC has lots of cool things to do in general. I think my future SIL really liked growing up there, but she went to a fancy private school my brother jokes about.

I actually have friends with kids basically the same ages as mine who are planning on settling there with a pediatric dentistry practice in the next year or so. They've lived in Seattle, Wisconsin, the Triangle area, and Pittsburgh, and they're choosing Charlotte over all those.

I wish I could think of some movies based in Charlotte so you could get a better idea of what it is like there.

eta: My impression is that Charlotte is one of the "fancier" Southern cities if that makes any sense.

[Melaine]

I think Charlotte is a great area. NC in general is really nice imo. I think it has a lot of the perks of being in the South, without some of the drawbacks of the HOTTER states below. NC has some great beaches and gorgeous mountains and more evenly distributed seasons than, say, it's lower neighbor.
Nice shopping in Charlotte, and that's enough for me.

[mmsmom]

I grew up in Charlotte and lived there for a while after college, but it has changed a lot since then. It is a really nice city and although it is the largest city in NC, areas still have a small southern town feel. NC schools are notoriously on the bottom of many lists, but there are some very good public schools in Charlotte. The downtown area is called "uptown"... neighborhoods close to there are Dilworth, Myers Park and Eastover. There are also many newly developed areas further out that are nice like Ballantyne. Charlotte is a couple hours from the NC mountains and 3-4 hours from the beach. It usually doesn't get too cold and can be very hot & humid in the summer. There has been so much development in the past 10-20 years... lots of good restaurants, shopping, theater. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions.